Use a variable DataFormatString in asp.net ascx

Question

So I have some code that looks like this: ``` ``` This works as I would like it to. However, I want to reuse the date format everywhere in my program. Thus, I want to use a variable instead of the string used above. Something like: ``` ``` But this totally doesn't work. It prints out literally: ``` <%=myFormatString%> ``` I tried Bind, I tried Eval, nothing seems to work. It seems to me this should be really simple, even necessary. Am I the only person in the world who wants to use a DataFormatString more than once? Is this possible or am I a dreamer?

Accepted Answer

You could set it from codebehind:

```
((BoundField)GridView1.Columns[ColumnIndex]).DataFormatString = myFormatString;
```

Use a variable DataFormatString in asp.net ascx

Solution

Problem